Albany retail stores full bore at Christmas time

ALBANY — With such an outsized slice of their economic pie riding on a single day, it’s easy to understand why retail stores pay close attention to Christmas. That make-it-or-break-it time is here for merchants in Albany and around the country.

Terrell Hoffman and his father, Terry, owners of Cycle World bike shop at 2401 Dawson Road, have seen a lot of Christmas seasons come and go in the years since Terrell’s grandfather, Jim Laue, started selling motorcycles in 1976. Laue switched to bicycles in 1986.

“Every year is different,” Terrell Hoffman said. “In 2010, we were doing well with layaways and sales in November. The next year, things started picking up. Last year, though, we were biting our fingernails waiting for people to come in. The week after Christmas turned out to be our good time.”

Hoffman said that while a lot of folks have come into the shop this year to look and to talk about bikes, the “Christmas bump” has yet to show itself. Sometimes it goes right to the wire.

“I think the weather has a lot to do with it,” he said. “If it’s cold, it feels more ‘Christmas-y.’ A couple of years ago, we had a cooler November and December and people got more into the spirit.”

Hoffman said that a few years ago the partners tried “the Black Friday thing,” advertising a 5:30 a.m. sale.

“We might have seen two or three people in the store that early,” Terry Hoffman said. “Small Business Saturday wasn’t what we’d hoped for either. Honestly, I think people were just about ‘shopped out’ after Thanksgiving and Black Friday.”

The Hoffmans stress that while pegging a Christmas sales boost is difficult, their overall sale of high-end precision bicycles continues to do well.

“The bikes are more expensive than what you’d find at the big discount stores,” Terrell Hoffman said, “And none have Spiderman painted on them. Ours isn’t a Christmas kind of item in the same sort of way.”

In contrast to the Hoffman’s situation, merchandise at Livi & Company’s 3105 Ledo Road location in Leesburg seems suited toward blowing out the door at Christmas time.

“We’re pretty much one-stop shopping here,” said Livi owner Cindi Miles. “We have everything from furniture to jewelry. We have dresses for the ladies, T-shirts for the guys, cakes, pastries and a huge inventory of eclectic merchandise.”

Miles said she sensed this year that shoppers were starting earlier, so beginning in October she opened for business on Sundays, something she’d never done.

“We were wrapping Christmas gifts in October,” Miles said. “I believe the economy is getting better, and gas has gotten inexpensive. That has to help.”

Miles said Livi draws customers not only from the Albany area but from as far away as Macon and Tallahassee, Fla.

While anything plant-related is typically a seasonal business, Rodney Wilson and Ann Lewsader, owners of Green Envy Garden & Gifts at 2353 Lake Park Drive, do all they can to generate garden income in the colder holiday season.

“In the four months around spring, we do 80 percent of our business,” Wilson said. “In the summer, it’s too hot to garden, but for Christmas we sell a lot of interior plants people can give as gifts.”

If shoppers aren’t sure which plants might fill the bill, they can buy gift cards to put beneath the Christmas tree.

“The cards are good to give to people who plan to garden in the spring,” Wilson said.

At Place on the Pointe, an Albany landmark at 2416 Westgate Drive, shoppers can find just about anything, according to co-manager Honey Bolton. That includes bridal accessories, crystal and sterling, home decor, luggage, antique silver serving trays and more.

To meet the rush, the gift shop’s management has lengthened its hours on Tuesdays and Thursday nights, something new for this year, Bolton said.

“We’re open on those days ‘til 6:30 p.m.,” Bolton said. “When we locked our doors at 5 p.m., we were letting people in anyway, so we figured we might as well let people shop.”

Bolton said that while business has been very good, she’s noticed that many of Place on the Pointe’s customers are waiting until the “last minute” to shop.

“We had a little burst before Thanksgiving and now a big push at the end,” Bolton said. “I think people may be working longer hours at their jobs so it’s harder to get in.”